Town lost 4-0 at home to Bournemouth in their opening game in the Championship and Robins left the club by mutual consent following a meeting with the chairman Dean Hoyle.

Lillis, a former player with the club, will be assisted by coaches Steve Thompson and Steve Eyre and takes on the role for the third time at the John Smith’s Stadium following the departures of previous managers Simon Grayson and Lee Clark.

Lillis told the club’s official website: “As a club – staff, players and fans alike – we have to pull together and move on. Due to the integration of the club’s first team and academy set-up at PPG Canalside, the first-team players see me every day. That makes it as smooth a transition for them as possible, which is a positive.

“We have a Capital One Cup game at Chesterfield on Tuesday, which is an important one for the club and players after the performance and result on Saturday. We must go into the cup game to win and play how we can. A win could kick-off a run.

“I know that the fans will get behind the players if they put a shift in and we’ve challenged the players to do that.”